Lower Gwynedd addresses exposed sewer pipe

LOWER GWYNEDD — A Good Samaritan may have saved Lower Gwynedd Township officials from some major headaches after discovering an exposed sewer pipe while walking along the banks of the Wissahickon Creek.

During the Lower Gwynedd Township Board of Supervisors meeting Oct. 10, Township Manager Larry Comunale publicly recognized Public Works Director Michael DeStefano for quickly responding and putting the repair project together after receiving word from an unknown Good Samaritan that a 19-inch sewer pipe was exposed along the Trewellyn walking trail behind Trewellyn Estates and Gwynedd-Mercy College. Had it broken, Comunale said, it would have gone directly into the Wissahickon Creek.

“This is not an easy task,” Comunale said. “There’s a lot of coordination to be done. had to get a DEP emergency permit, which he got in record time.

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“There are a lot of moving parts in this project and it’s under way … and it took less than a week since it was discovered to mobilize it,” he said. “It was a good job by Mike to get this all together so quickly.”

Comunale said the township is working in tandem with a contractor who will do most of the excavating and concrete work at the site while the township will do all it can handle including hauling in stone.

DeStefano said the contractor had started work that day and made good progress with stabilizing the stream bank. He said he expected all work to be finished by the end of the week.

Supervisor Stephen Paccione said he had been to the site and said he wanted to recognize the Good Samaritan because “walking on the trail you wouldn’t have noticed it, the exposure to the pipe.” Paccione said the unidentified person walks and cleans along the banks of the creek and noticed the problem.

Board Chairman Ed Brandt said he’d like to send the person who discovered the problem a letter of appreciation for calling it in.

Supervisor Mark Grey asked if there were any more sewer runs like the current pipe that was spotted because he said it sounded like it was by chance that the pipe was spotted and it didn’t sound like there was an inspection team that looks for something like this. He said he wanted to make sure that any similar issues would be addressed.

DeStefano said this particular pipe ran along the curvature of the creek whereas most of the other pipes run parallel with it. He said he’d make sure there were no other issues.

In other business, Comunale said the Oct. 24 meeting would include an opportunity for residents to speak with representatives from PennDOT about the Route 202 project and ask questions before construction finishes in the coming months.